(Sports Network) - It seems Doug Collins is fed up with his struggling
Philadelphia 76ers team.

Collins wants answers and hasn't been getting them. He hopes his latest
diatribe will settle in with the Sixers, who are in the Windy City Thursday
night to take on the Chicago Bulls at the United Center.

The Sixers lost their season-high sixth straight game in Tuesday's 98-84
setback versus the just-as-lowly Orlando Magic, who ended a five-game slide in
the process. Jeremy Pargo and Damien Wilkins scored 14 points apiece, while
Dorell Wright and Evan Turner scored 11 and 10 points, respectively, in
defeat.

Sixers All-Star guard Jrue Holiday entered the night averaging 25.5 ppg in his
previous two games and was held to nine points on 4-of-11 shooting. However,
he is posting 17.1 ppg in the last nine games.

The Sixers fell a season-low 11 games under .500 and are 6-20 when scoring
less than 90 points. Another area of concern for Collins' squad is that
Philadelphia has been held under 100 points in each of the last 11 games. That
is the longest streak in franchise history during the shot clock era.

"I did not see this effort coming," Collins said afterward. "This is mind-
numbing to me. We went up 29-20, and from that point on I couldn't even tell
you what occurred."

Collins wasn't done there.

"If everybody looked at themselves as much as I did, this world would be a CAT
scan," he claimed. "There's not 2 days go by that I don't go to Rod (Thorn),
that I don't go to Tony (DiLeo) and say, 'What can I do? Can I do anything
different? How can I be a better coach? How can I be a better leader? How can
I help these guys?' Sometimes you've got to help yourself. Youth is a very
blaming thing."

Defense has been an issue as evidenced by the 76ers' 0-13 record when allowing
an opponent to shoot 50 percent or better. They have lost 27 in a row when
that happens dating back to last season.

The Sixers lost 12 in a row from Nov. 20-Dec. 11, 2009 and look to snap an
eight-game road losing streak Thursday in Chicago. Philly dropped 10 in a row
as the visitor back in 2006 and hasn't prevailed on the road since New Year's
Day against the Los Angeles Lakers. The 76ers are just 3-17 in the past 20
road tilts and 6-18 away from Wells Fargo Center this season.

Philadelphia will return home Saturday to host Golden State.

Meanwhile, the Bulls haven't been exactly lights out either, losing two
straight and seven of 10 games. They're still just four games behind Indiana
for the Central lead and will resume a three-game homestand Thursday.

The Bulls were trying to erase the memories of a disastrous 102-72 loss at
Oklahoma City with the Cleveland Cavaliers in town Tuesday, but suffered a
101-98 loss. Cavs young star Kyrie Irving didn't play because of a knee issue,
but rookie Dion Waiters picked up the slack with 25 points.

Carlos Boozer and Luol Deng had 27 and 26 points, respectively, for the Bulls,
while Kirk Hinrich registered 11 points and 11 assists in his return to the
lineup. Hinrich had missed three straight and 10 of 11 games because of an
elbow injury.

"We have to keep grinding and get back on track. In the NBA every team is
tough and there are no guaranteed wins," Hinrich said. "They played hard and
they played well. We need to get back to where we were and start finishing
games and make no excuses."

Chicago forward Taj Gibson is expected to miss at least two weeks with a knee
injury. That doesn't bode well for depth.

The Bulls will close out the homestand Saturday versus Brooklyn and are 15-14
at the United Center this season. Chicago is winless in three straight at
home.

Chicago has won the first two meetings with the Sixers this season and is
aiming for its first season sweep in this series since 1996-97 (4 games). The
Bulls have won four in a row against Philadelphia, which has lost two straight
and six of its last seven contests at the United Center.